Marked
by Austin Jade
Summary: How could he not hear the mutterings from these people? Didn't he care what their opinions of him were? Why didn't he speak up or yell at them? He shouldn't take such slandering from people who didn't know him! 'Ties That Bind' Series


This is a repost of a story from the 'Ties That Bind' that I used to write for 5D's. Instead of posting it all into one story, though, I figured I should just repost them separately, since the only things these stories have in common is they are all about 5D's…which the site already graciously made.

This story takes a look at Aki during her time as the Black Rose Witch. She meets an engineer with piercing blue eyes with a marker on public transportation.

Enjoy

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**Marked**

'It's a lot more crowded, today.'

A young red-haired girl moved through the sea of morning commuters find a seat on the crowded railway car. Used to this sort of travel while attending Duel Academia and traveling to and from the Arcadia Movement Headquarters, Izayoi Aki found a seat when a balding middle-aged man of portly shape smiled at her and stood up, hanging onto one of the handles, instead.

She was not used to this kind of treatment when Divine wasn't around. While part of Duel Academia, she was ostracized from her classmates because of her Psycho Dueling powers. They feared her as one would a rabid beast.

She had to remember, though; without her Black Rose Witch persona, she was nothing more than a typical teenage girl.

Muttering her gratitude, Aki slipped passed him into the seat and slid her knapsack in the small cubby underneath the seat. As soon as she did, her ears immediately perked up at the mutterings of the crowd around her. It always amazed her how a simple homemade mask of white plastic and red paint was enough to spread the rumors of her unnatural abilities and wanton destruction. She was given more respect as an unknown stranger than she ever was as a student at the Academia.

However, they were not strangers to _her_. Indeed, the man who offered his seat was one she recognized from the dueling areas she frequented. He was a reporter of sorts, posting the results of duels and the happenings on blogs and Twitter. He was one of the interviews given to newscasts when she first arose as the Witch. Some of the other passengers also were ones she remembered from her battles with the lower class of Neo Domino's society. They would probably never guess that it was her under the hood.

The car stopped and a sliding noise announced the arrival of more commuters. Suddenly, whispers burrowed into her ears. Aki took a little satisfaction that they were typically about the Black Rose Witch; about her. It was a stab back at those who isolated her. She perked up her ears to listen at what terror they felt might reach her ears, this time.

Her heart froze when one of the words she picked up on was 'marked'. Had she been discovered? The cursed mark on her arm…surely, people would know, then, that there was something strange about her. No ordinary person would have something like that on their body. But hers should've been covered by her sleeves. How was it noticed?

Her eyes shut tightly. She vaguely registered her left hand racing to her forearm to unsuccessfully erase the birthmark. More and more, Aki noticed that the voices of those around her whispered terms like 'marked' and 'marker' caused the young girl shiver.

Something was wrong, though. If people had discovered her identity, shouldn't they be moving away from her? But the voices became louder and more apparent and the shuffling of feet seemed to be moving closer to her. Her body became warmer from the heat due to the proximity of the bodies.

Aki dared to peek out her eyelids. The first thing she noticed was the iciness from the eyes of the crowd. She also noticed, however, these glares weren't directed at her, but further down the railway car. She noticed that fewer bodies were seated towards the back of the tram.

She noticed the portly man who offered up her seat was one of the few without a threatening stare. Interest piqued by the situation, Aki gently prodded the man. He turned.

"Excuse me, Milady," he graciously muttered. "Quite crowded in here, it is."

She shook her head. "What's all the commotion?"

He scoffed. "Apparently, most people have never seen a Marker, before." Aki realized she must have had a questioning look upon her visage, as the man gestured in the direction of the less-populated transport.

Aki stared between a forest of appendages that blocked her view before finally sighting her quarry. A man stood grasping one of the poles sprouting up from the ground. He was garbed in an engineer's uniform with a bag presumably full of tools and a pail filled with what was most likely his lunch. He sported spiky black-and-yellow hair.

It took her a while to notice what, exactly, they were muttering about, when she saw it as he turned to sift through his belongings. Across his left cheek was a jagged yellow tattoo traveling from his the bottom of his eye to his jaw line; an unmistakable Marker from the Public Safety Maintenance Bureau.

"Funny how he wouldn't even be noticed without that Mark," the man audibly informed her. Aki glanced back at the middle-aged reporter, silently encouraging him to continue. "Those that have a strip like that are typically those who have broken the law of trying to come to the City from Satellite and were caught. I've seen his type, before…just looking for a better life for himself or his loved ones. It's not like they asked to be born in Satellite."

The redhead nodded, and turned her gaze back to the engineer. He had turned around and was now sitting in one of the seats on the car. She now saw that his eyes were an intense shade of blue as his gaze filtered out the window. The murmurs grew louder, wondering how such a Satellite scum could be allowed into the City, let alone their trolley.

Aki was almost stunned silent. A quiet fire broiled within her at the sight. The grasp on her own mark concealed by her sleeves tightened. How could he not hear the mutterings from these people? Didn't he care what their opinions of him were? Why didn't he speak up or yell at them? He shouldn't take such slandering from people who didn't know him!

The car suddenly jerked to a halt, causing a surprised cry to jump from some of the people around the young redhead. A clatter cause various belongings to drop to the ground in disarray; a problem that most likely wouldn't have occurred had everyone been dispersed more evenly throughout the transport.

Interference rang through the intercom in the car, announcing that they were sorry for the inconvenience of the stop, and that they would be moving again in a moment. Aki had enough time to brace herself against a nearby pole. However, the clattering and grinding of metal informed her that her knapsack wasn't so lucky. As the car started moving again, she realized that her Duel Disk had slid out of her bag and had started moving away from her under her seat.

Unable to move about easily, Aki huffed in annoyance. She knew her Deck was in her pocket, but she'd have to wait for the Satellite mechanic to leave before acquiring her Duel Disk.

In her annoyance, she almost failed to notice the crowd shift again, this time away from her. Aki was mildly surprised, wondering if they were allowing her to get up and retrieve her Disk, when she saw someone standing before her.

Her eyes rose into a pair of striking sapphires staring down on her. She found the gaze to be quite mystifying. They were piercing; boring into her.

Aki understood. The mutterings _didn't_ bother him. Because those who this man was close to knew and accepted him for whom he really was. That was more than enough.

Her eyes drooped down, suddenly feeling unworthy of his gaze. Her glance caught a nametag, Taro Daimon. Her eyes widened as she also finally saw her Duel Disk in his grasp.

"I think this belongs to you," Taro's smooth, deep voice echoed. "It's in fairly good condition, despite its extensive use."

Aki dumbly nodded and accepted it with her free hand. "Thank you," she breathed.

Silence hung in the air between them. Oddly, Aki could see the mouths of various passengers move, but she failed to hear what they said.

"Its owner should also do better to take care of herself."

Aki gasped. Was he referring to her? As she was about to question him, the tram had stopped again, with more interference calling attention to the speaker system. "This stop is the Public Safety Maintenance Bureau Storage Facility. Please, watch your step."

The man nodded at her and walked out of the car with his belongings. She had a sudden suspicion that such a plain name like Taro couldn't be the real name of a man like him.

After the Marked Man left, everyone began to disperse, though several gave her odd looks after what transpired. The car slowly emptied with the next few stations, until only a few were left.

After a few more stops, Aki bade the balding man goodbye and exited the car to the Arcadia Movement and Divine. She wasn't in the mood to use her powers, today, after all.


End file.
